Who's Your Secret Santa, Charlie Brown?
by Senshi Sun
Summary: Charlie Brown gets to be the Secret Santa for his crush, the Little Red Haired Girl. Will he be able to find something great for her in time? One-Shot


Charlie Brown sat at his desk, watching the bobble on his teacher's Santa hat bounce up and down as she walked down the rows of desks and chairs. She carried a bowl filled with slips of white paper. The students took one slip each. They were supposed to wait and open them at the same time, but some of them, like Lucy van Pelt, were peeking. There were names on the slips. The person whose name was written there would be their Secret Santa.

Charlie Brown's stomach began to churn. He took a couple deep breaths. Who would he get? Would it be someone like Lucy, that didn't really like him. Or was it somebody that did like him, like Schroder? And who would be his Secret Santa?

"Knowing my luck," Charlie Brown thought, "I won't even get a Secret Santa."

He turned his attention back to the classroom. It was festive, with garland strung up on the top of the chalkboard and a paper tree taped to the door. The teacher had put a papier-mache reindeer on her desk. Charlie Brown heard Frieda mutter something as she took a slip of paper from the teacher's bowl. The teacher smiled and walked back up to the top of Charlie Brown's row.

The bobble on the teacher's hat bounced up and down. The first student took their slip. Lucy "accidentally" dropped her paper on the floor, and it opened when she picked it up. The teacher moved forward one desk-length. The bobble bounced. Another student took a slip. Lucy peeked at her slip. The teacher moved forward. This went in a rhythmic fashion. Up and down. Take a slip. Lucy peeked.

Then, the teacher reached Charlie Brown, the last student in the last row. Charlie Brown wrung his hands and slumped down is his chair. He reached out a shaky hand and plucked the last thin slip of paper from the bowl. He held both his hands to his chest, his fingers covering the paper completely. The teacher announced that her students could open their papers. Charlie Brown pulled his hands away from his chest. He slowly peeled the parts of the slip apart. On the paper were two words in black ink: "Heather O'Connor".

Charlie Brown felt his face grow warm. He looked up at the little red-haired girl, the girl he'd had a crush on for a very long time. How much had fate smiled down on him to give him her as a Secret Santa. Charlie Brown was sure that this was his very own Christmas miracle.

The teacher stood at the front of the classroom and went over the rules of Secret Santa. Charlie Brown wrote down all of them. The rules were simple: there was a $5 limit on gifts, the Secret Santa was supposed to be kept absolutely secret, and the gifts had to be ready by the end of the week. At that moment, the bell rang. Everybody ran for the door except for Charlie Brown, who held back so he didn't run into Heather. In his mind, he made a list of possible gifts for her.

For the next few days, Charlie Brown was faced with a nerve-wracking choice. There were so many nice things that he could get Heather. He didn't even know where to begin. He thought he could get her some earrings, but he didn't know if her ears were pierced. He thought about getting her a hair clip for her beautiful red hair, but she might not like using them. He almost bought her a charm bracelet before thinking she might already have one. It was only on the night before the Secret Santa gifts were due to come in that Charlie Brown finally chose a gift for his Secret Santa sweetheart.

The next day, Charlie Brown came into class with his gift, which was neatly wrapped in candy cane wrapping paper and a bright red bow. He watched all the other students come in. The teacher asked the class to put all the Secret Santa gifts on her desk before they went to their seats. A pile of gifts quickly formed. The students talked loudly at their desks until the teacher silenced them.

One by one, the teacher called up the students. She handed out each present. Most of the gifts were small, but thought out. Frieda got some hair ribbons for her naturally curly hair. Shroder got a Beethoven CD that looked like a free prize from a cereal box. Marcie got a small cloth for cleaning her glasses. Linus got a, oblong disk that could only spin counterclockwise.

Charlie Brown sat at his desk, head down and sweating with nervousness. His mind was racing. All of his classmates were getting suck interesting gifts, and he had gotten nothing. Had he been forgotten about? On the other hand, Heather hadn't been called up yet either. His gift could still be up there. He hoped Heather would like what he had gotten for her. He hoped she wouldn't cast it away, or throw it at him like Lucy would.

In the middle of the round-headed boy's frantic wondering, the teacher called out, "Charlie Brown".

Charlie Brown sat up, his eyes wide. After confirming that his mind had not been playing a trick on him, he walked to the teacher's desk to pick up his gift. It was about the size of a shoe box, and wrapped neatly in sparkly Christmas tree wrapping paper. The tag read, "To: Charlie Brown, From: Santa's Best Helper Ever." Charlie Brown pulled the tape from the paper, careful not to rip it. Once the gift was revealed, Lucy and started to laugh. Violet peeked around Linus to get a look at the gift and started laughing too. Underneath the Christmas tree paper was a bright pink notebook decorated with a rainbow and a purple unicorn. The words "My Secret Diary" were written on it in sparkly purple letters.

Charlie Brown wished he'd gotten a rock.

At long last, the teacher picked up the gift wrapped in candy cane paper and read out the name "Heather O'Connor". The little red-haired girl smiled as she picked up her Secret Santa present. Charlie Brown watched her open her gift. She picked her gift up, grinning wildly.

"Beagle Bites! These are my favorite!" Heather held her gift, a box of chocolates, high over her head.

Charlie Brown blushed at the knowledge that his gift was well received. He stood up slowly, and began to walk over to her. More than anything, he wanted to tell her he'd been her Secret Santa the whole time.

Heather saw Charlie Brown out of the corner of her eye, and turned to face him. "Oh, hi there."

"I just wanted to say, um," Charlie Brown's mind went blank. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas to you too." Heather's eyes seemed to sparkle with festive joy.

As Charlie Brown returned to his desk for the beginning of class, two emotions welled up inside him. The first was disappointment. He was disappointed in himself. How had he not been able to say something so simple as "I'm your Secret Santa"? Even his baby sister Sally could say that much. It shouldn't be that difficult to tell something to the girl you like. The second feeling was elation. Even though he had failed to communicate his role in the Secret Santa, he had given her something she liked. She would enjoy those chocolates.

Charlie Brown stared down at his gift. The purple unicorn on the cover of the diary stared up at him in a frozen moment of joy. Maybe there was a use for his secret diary after all. He could write a letter to Heather that explained everything.

Or he could give it to Sally. Whichever came first.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** I hope you all enjoyed this little holiday special, written as a gift to my dear friend J. M. Blockhead. He writes Peanuts stories too. Go check them out!

**Author's Note to Self: **Next time you have something with a definite deadline, start it at least a month in advance.


End file.
